Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
We are slowly nearing the end of our time together. There are only two words left, and they are by no means the easiest to understand or the easiest to hear. Let us take some time to sit and ponder together the enormity of Jesus’ last words before his death as the Gospel from St. John records them.
It is finished.
I have often heard that Jesus’ words here are like that of an artist or worker looking at a finished product. Maybe Jesus was like a composer who has just finished his magnum opus. Did he experience, even as he hung broken and bleeding on the cross, something akin to what Beethoven experienced after working for countless hours and days on his 5th Symphony? It is finished. The music is made. Or maybe it was more akin to the feeling that falls upon an author after writing the last word of a novel. Did Jesus know the relief of completing the task like Leo Tolstoy felt after finishing War and Peace? It is finished. The novel is way too long, but it is completed. Or maybe it was like the since of peace that a master chef feels after toiling in the kitchen all day over a single meal. Everything was added in just the right amounts at just the right time, and now the dinner is done, ready to eat.
It is finished.
Is this what Jesus meant here? The job is done, the race is won, I need not do any more, add any more, or say any more. It is finished.
But yet, it’s not really finished, is it?
I am currently working to finish up my penultimate semester of seminary at Princeton. I am one semester and a few finals away from being able, like the many people who have come before me, to look back on these last three years, breathe a sigh of relief, and declare that it is finished. I can’t wait. I really like my classes, and I have made some great friends there, but it is spiritually exhausting work and I am ready for it to be over. I will be able, finally, to say it is finished.
But it won’t be completely over, will it? My time at Princeton will have come to a close, but my life is far from complete. I might never have to turn in any more school work for the rest of my life, but my work in this world is far from over. I might not ever engage in formal education again, but my time as a student sitting at the Master’s feet, learning from the One who created everything and knows everything, might as well be just beginning. As much as I might want it to be sometimes, graduating from Princeton is not the end-all goal. A chapter in my life will be finished, but God has much more to write in my book before I am done.
It’s the same thing with Jesus, isn’t it? The Gospel from St. John testifies that “Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’” This is an absolutely huge statement, and yet much of the time, I think that we miss the crucial message that is made known in it. You see, in order to truly understand what is going on here, we have to break this sentence down. First, let us look together at the first half. According to this passage, Jesus knows that everything was completed. In the life, ministry, and death of Christ, sin and death lose their power over creation. As the Apostle Paul so famously writes in his first letter to the church in Corinth, “Death has been swallowed up in victory! Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus has done it! Everything that he was sent to earth to do has been done. The music has been made, the novel has been written, the meal has been prepared.
But the verse goes on. It does not end with Jesus “knowing that all was now completed”. If it did, then we could expect our world to be a quite different place. There would be no war, no violence, no injustice. We would be completely redeemed, creation would be completely redeemed, and resting comfortably in the arms of our God. But the verse goes on. Jesus knew that all was completed “so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled”. There is a future hope and assurance secured in these words. Because of Jesus’ life, ministry, and death, Holy Scripture will be fulfilled. The world will experience redemption. There will be a new creation that springs forth out of the old.
But not yet. It is not finished yet.
The story is not over, and the redeeming work of Christ has not yet reached its completion in the world. This is amply evident every time we venture outside and see someone living under an overpass and fighting to stay warm on a below-freezing night. It is amply evident every time we turn on the news and hear of child soldiers forced into drug addiction and made to do violence to their family and friends. It is amply evident every time we look at someone and feel distrust or fear toward him just because his skin is a different hue than ours.
Friends, it is not finished.
My dad had surgery on his knee last fall. The surgery itself took about three hours, but the recovery is still ongoing. When the doctor finally stitched up the knee after those three hours of work, I’m sure that he felt a sense of accomplishment. The job was done. The knee was fixed. It was finished. But for my dad, even though his knee is fixed, the job is not over. He still has to work on physical therapy, and he still has to be careful about how much weight he puts on it and for how long. The knee is fixed, but the process is still not finished.
Just like the redemption of all creation through Christ’s actions. The work is done, the problem of sin is fixed, but the process of full restoration is not over.
It is not finished.
Like the composer who has completed his symphony, the work really hasn’t reached completion until the music is heard and enjoyed by others, and this takes the work of an ensemble to learn and play it before anyone can ever actually hear it. Like the writer who has finished her novel, the book really hasn’t hit its conclusion until it is read and enjoyed by others, and this takes the work of editors, printers, and distributors before the average person is ever able to actually dive into it. Like the master chef who has just put the final touches on an amazing spread, the meal is not actually over until the food has been eaten and enjoyed, then there’s usually a giant pile of dishes to wash.
The work of Christ has not been completed. He has done everything he was called to do here on earth—which was quite a lot—and his mission was absolutely completed. But it will not truly be finished until everyone has experienced and enjoyed the great love and grace that God freely gives to God’s children. It will not be truly finished until violence is a thing of the past and the entire world lives in and acts out of justice and mercy.
Jesus knew his work was finished. He also knew that because of this, Scripture would be fulfilled. But not yet. As the famous line states, it’s Friday but Sunday is coming. There is work still to do before the world knows the restoration and redemption available only through our Lord who gave himself up even for us. There is still work to do before the world is changed into the new heavens and new earth. And thanks be to God that we have the great privilege to engage the work of redemption with Christ, and that we have a chance to participate in the completion and fulfillment of the Scripture. It is not finished, but through Christ is will be, one day. Amen.
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